The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) has issued a warning to small and medium enterprise (SME) owners about a new scam involving deepfake cloning by cybercriminals.

According to the CICC, criminals are now using artificial intelligence to clone the voices and faces of business owners to deceive employees and clients into transferring money or disclosing sensitive information. What was once simple phishing has evolved into sophisticated deepfake impersonation schemes.

The agency cited a 2024 Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) report showing over 1.24 million registered businesses in the country, most of them microenterprises, making them prime targets for cybercriminals.

The CICC urged businesses that may have fallen victim to deepfake cloning to immediately report incidents through the CICC hotline 1326 or via the ScamSafe platform for proper action.